Pittsburgh’s comedy scene continues to attract a wide range of national acts, like the star-studded Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival that comes to First Niagara Pavillion at the end of the month. This makes the time right for the city to make a more significant mark on the national comedy scene by nurturing homegrown talent.

Luckily, the Pittsburgh Comedy Festival makes its debut this Thursday at the Henry Heymann Theatre situated in the Stephen Foster Memorial in Oakland. The fest spans three days and features performances from national acts such as30 Rock’s Judah Friedlander, and the “slow play” weirdness of Craig Cackowski (Community) and Rich Talarico (Key & Peele). Pittsburgh natives including Tom Henry, Shannon Norman and Travis Walling will also be playing.

The festival will also showcase a comedy talk with Brenda Harger of Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center and Hannah Du Plessis of Fit Associates; a panel with the aforementioned Cackowski & Talarico along with Tim Diamond; and a Kids Comedy Cabaret with local comedians Josh & Gab, Penny Arcade and Mark Hayward.